Percy Jackson & the Freshman Year
by The KFM
Summary: Luke is Kronos now, his army growing bigger and more powerful by the day. However, before Percy can face Kronos, he must first survive freshman year at Goode High School, where monsters lurk at every corner. In this installment to the PJO series (tying in between Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian), Percy comes face-to-face with a gallery of foes, both new and old.
1. Chapter 1

ONE

I UNINTENTIONALLY DONATE BLOOD TO MY GEOMETRY TEACHER

Even before I almost got swallowed whole by a demon woman, my day was actually pretty good.

You see, being a half-blood (part human, part olympian god) means that you'll never be safe. There are monsters from the Greek myths that roam the world, looking for kids like me who have a godly parent. Also, the more powerful the demigod (as we call ourselves), the more monsters are attracted to us.

Now, I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty powerful demigod. I took down Ares, the god of war, in a one-on-one swordfight and walked away just fine. Also, my dad, the godly parent, is Poseidon, god of the seas, and more than three-quarters of the earth is covered in water.

So, yeah, I've got monsters coming out the wazoo trying to get a piece of me, but at least I've had training to fight them off. To be honest, the demigod part of my life is actually easier than the mortal part of my life because, well, I can't use my powers that often, and I have ADHD and dyslexia, causing me to be an oddball and getting picked on a lot.

And so my story begins with a bully grabbing me by the back of the collar and dragging me through Goode High School to a place I knew I could totally dominate her and her ugly goons: the bathroom.

"Geez, Jackson! Guess the only thing that changed since sixth grade is your lack of strength!" Said Nancy Bobofit as she motioned for one of her goons to open a stall.

Nancy Bobofit bullied me and my friend Grover in sixth grade at a boarding school I got kicked out of. She must've gotten kicked out too or something and somehow managed to get into Goode. I guess her family was rich and could bribe their daughter into any school. She was still taller than me, but instead of a couple inches now, it was a full head.

"Look, Nancy, we're fifteen now." I said as we neared the toilet. "There's no need to resort to 80's material."

"Shut up, Prissy!" Yelled one of the girls. Her comment kind of bothered me because someone I knew also called me Prissy instead of Percy. Another similarity was that we didn't get along well.

Nancy kicked my legs and I played weak and knelt in front of the toilet. I've been working out the past few years and could pretty much take on Nancy's strength, but I decided to give her more time to gloat. I've been through this scenario before my first year at camp and it took everything I had to hold back a smile.

"Alright, Percy," said Nancy, "you thirsty?" She grabbed the back of my head and pushed me toward the (thankfully) clean toilet bowl.

I put my hands on the seat, making sounds of struggle, then, when I got a little bored, I willed myself to become one with the plumbing.

You see, being the son of a sea god has perks. One of them is the ability to control water, turning the whole swirly thing around. I felt a tug in my gut as I urged the water from the toilet to arch over my head, missing by mere inches, and straight into Nancy's face.

She let go of me instantly, sputtering toilet water, and ran out of the bathroom not without slipping first. I looked at her friends. Mary the short, slender blonde and Tiffany the tall, heavyset redhead. Two opposites collide as best friends. "Who's next?" I ask with a smirk.

They turned and ran out into the hall.

I looked back at the mess I made: Some clean water here and there, definitely slippable but suffice. And that was when Paul Blofis, my English teacher and my mom's boyfriend, walked in.

"What the…?"

"The toilet!" I said quickly and pointed at the now empty toilet.

Paul peered inside. "Percy, what happened here?"

"I… I don't know, Mr. Blowfish. I mean, Blofis."

He let out a sigh. "Percy, can you head down to the custodian closet and get a mop for this?"

Now, normally, I'd be pretty bummed out that I had to mop this up, but I wasn't. For one, I had just showed Nancy Bobofit who was boss and she probably won't mess with me for the rest of my life. Second, It was Paul who asked, and I know he's a nice guy and he would probably thank me later at home.

"Sure thing, Paul." I said. I left the bathroom to get the mop.

* * *

><p>I was halfway down the hall when I ran into another familiar face. Thankfully, it was a friendly one.<p>

Rachel Elizabeth Dare tapped me on my shoulder, which made me jump a bit because I wasn't expecting anyone to be in the halls right now.

"Well hello, stray student." She said as she walked beside me. Today she was wearing a purple T-shirt with Sharpie pictures on it and ripped jeans. Her red hair was tied back into a ponytail, revealing her full, freckled face.

"Hey, Rachel." I found the custodian closet and opened it.

"So, you're skipping math for… janitor work?" She said as she peered into the closet.

"Sort of." I found the mop and pulled it out. "I may have doused Nancy with toilet water."

"No way…"

"Yes way."

"Dude, you just lived every nerd's dream!" She hugged me from behind as I closed the closet door.

"Uh, Rachel, I wouldn't go as far as calling me a nerd."

"Moron?"

"Close enough."

* * *

><p>After I had mopped up the bathroom and put the mop away, the bell had rung and students began to fill the halls. We walked past Nancy, who was still sopping wet. She looked at me like I was some sort of freak, but there was also a hint of fear. I couldn't help but feel giddy about myself.<p>

"Don't get too cocky." Said Rachel as if she had read my mind. "I still need you to keep your eyes peeled."

"Right." I said.

Remember what I said about demigods and monsters? Well, I'm barely two weeks into the school year and already Rachel had sensed a monster in the school, but even with her ability to see through the Mist (a magical element that bends what mortals see to their understanding), she couldn't pinpoint who the monster was.

Our next class was biology, which was right next to the classroom where we were supposed to have geometry. Unfortunately, our geometry teacher, Ms. Lamia, is, like, super strict. When we passed by her door, I heard her shout my name. "Percy Jackson!"

I stopped in my tracks and looked at her sitting at her desk. "Yes, ma'am?"

She still sat there. She was scrawny, pale, tall, and long curly blonde hair. "May I ask why you skipped class today?"

"Oh, um, you see, Nancy Bobofit-"

"Not another word, Mr. Jackson."

Nancy Bobofit always seemed to be the trigger word with teachers back in sixth grade. I guess things never change.

"Come inside, Mr. Jackson. I'll give you the assignment for today."

Rachel grabbed my hand. Tight. I could tell she sensed something bad, maybe about Ms. Lamia. I felt it too. "It's okay, I'll catch up with you later." I said to Rachel. She let go of my hand and walked away slowly. I took a deep breath and put my hands in my pockets, my right one wrapping around a pen I always carried with me. I walked into the classroom and to the desk.

"Alright, Mr. Jackson," said Ms. Lamia as she pulled out a short stack of papers from her desk drawer. "Take these."

I reached out with my left hand to grab the papers, but she pulled them away quickly as my hand touched it, giving me a papercut.

"Ow!" Instinctively, I pulled out my right hand to stop the bleeding on my left one, leaving my pen free in my pocket.

"It's okay, Jackson. A little blood never hurt anyone." She said.

Then things got crazy. Ms. Lamia smiled, and she bared fangs. She was about to grab my arm and probably take a chunk out of it, but I pulled back fast. I pulled my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, turning it into Riptide, my three-foot-long celestial bronze sword.

"You're an empousa!" I yelled at her.

She stood up and walked toward me slowly from around her desk. "Jackson, please, does the name Lamia remind you of anything?"

Now that she mentioned, it sounded kind of familiar, but I was never good at paying attention to lessons, especially names. "Uh, not really."

She hissed. I backed up, pointing my sword at her. "What do they teach you at camp these days?" She said. "I'm Lamia, the mistress of Zeus."

"Yeah, doesn't ring a bell." I said. I took the chance to slash with my blade, but she jumped to the left, over two desks.

"Oh, it's Hera's fault, isn't it? First she takes away my children and then turns me into this… this beast! And now she erased my legends from demigods!"

"Wait," I said, my mind churning, "Lamia, Devourer of Children?"

"Yes!" She hissed with delight.

Now I remembered my friend Annabeth talking about her. First Annabeth was venting about Hera after our journey through the Labyrinth, then she started going on all about how Hera was a total jerk and what she did to other people because she overreacted or was just jealous. Lamia was a mistress of Zeus, and Hera killed Lamia's kids and turned her into a vampire demon lady that devoured the children of others.

I guess I was her next meal.

"Look," I said, "Um, I don't taste good. I haven't showered today, I kind of had to mop toilet water, so maybe I wouldn't be your best choice."

I guess she must like all the things I listed, because she took a lunge at me, mouth gaping wide open. I ducked and stuck up my sword, cutting into her snakeskin skirt and her leg.

Wait, snakeskin?

When she fell over I stood up and looked at her. She was wearing a snakeskin skirt, and, honestly, I felt a little freaked out. My run-ins with Medusa and Dracaenae may have made me develop a phobia.

Lamia got back up and lunged at me again, but I was ready. I stepped to the side, and as she was in front of me, I brought down Riptide and, in an instant, Lamia turned to yellow dust and the smell of sulfur clung to the air.

I put the cap on the tip of my sword, turning it back into a pen and put it in my pocket. I checked around to make sure no other monster wanted a piece of me and ran out of the room, straight into Rachel.

"Hey!" She yelled as she tumbled to the floor.

"Sorry." I helped her up. "Uh, Ms. Lamia. She was… Lamia."

"The Devourer of Children?" She asked.

"Yeah." I took a deep breath, the adrenaline fading. "I guess we found that monster."

"Actually," said Rachel, "that wasn't the monster I was sensing."

"What?"

Now she took a deep breath. "I sensed something about Lamia, but she wasn't the strongest monster I sensed here. Someone here is even more powerful than her and is still here."

I looked up and down the hallway. Students were still bustling around. I guess they didn't hear the racket I made in the classroom at all. But as I looked at each of their faces, I couldn't help but feel small with how many there were, and how many of them may be monsters.

Already last week, I had helped Clarisse retrieve her father's chariot from her immortal brothers (long story), now I fought Lamia, and now it doesn't stop there.

It was going to be a long year.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

I TRY FREE PEN SAMPLES

A few days after my run-in with Lamia, life was back to normal. Paul thanked me for mopping the bathroom with a bag of Salt and Vinegar chips (mostly because they came in a blue bag), Rachel and I were hanging out more often, and my mom had just sent her second novel to her editor: a book recounting my adventure to the Sea of Monsters.

When school ended on the third Friday of the semester, Rachel said she needed to stop by the art store in town to pick up some art stuff with names I couldn't remember.

"I'll join you." I said. I had nothing to do for the rest of the day and I kind of wanted to spend some time looking at the beautiful parts of Manhattan. And, maybe, a part of me wanted to make sure none of Kronos's army was planning any sneak attacks on Olympus.

We went to a hobby store that was on the corner of West 34th and 6th, only a block away from the Empire State Building or, as demigods know it, the entrance to Mount Olympus.

The store was small, but packed with stuff. Magazines about art and making models, X-acto knives, brushes, and pens. Lots and lots of pens. Seriously, there was a shelf full of pens that looked just like Riptide, sitting open on the shelves for people to use next to a table with pads of graph paper. The store owner smiled as we walked in and went back to his magazine.

"So, what are we looking for again?" I asked Rachel and she scanned the aisles. Her expression was similar to how Annabeth's was when she'd dreamily talk about architecture.

"I need new brushes, paint, and plastic glue." She said as she peered the shelves.

"Oh, right. Of course." I tried follow her around, but she moved slowly down the aisles, taking her time to look at every little thing. My ADHD was acting up, keeping me from wanting to take a slow stroll through the store. I looked around, finding shelf after shelf of art supplies. The bell for the entrance door rang and I looked over to see a man in a gray trench coat and fedora walk in.

At first, I thought nothing of it, but then he sniffed the air. He turned his head around, scanning the store, then looked at me directly in the eyes.

I ducked and whispered to Rachel. "Hey!"

She turned to me. "Why are you whispering?"

I nodded my head to the direction of the trench coat guy and Rachel and I peered over the shelf, looking at the entrance door.

No one was there.

"Percy…" Rachel started.

"Rachel, I thought I saw a-."

Suddenly, a muffled scream came from my left where Rachel. I turned toward her and saw the man hold Rachel, right hand over her mouth.

"Oh, yes." He said is a deep, rocky voice. "She'll make a great appetizer."

I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and, just before I could uncap it, the man knocked me aside, sending me through the air and hitting the shelf of pens and accidentally dropping mine.

I got up, painfully, and looked at the man. He started to grow, showing his true shape. Huge body, huge hands, ugly face. A Laestrygonian giant.

"Leave her alone!" I shouted.

I looked at the store owner, hoping he would see something out of the ordinary, but he must've been reading a good article or something because all he did was take a sip of his drink.

I couldn't wait any longer. I picked up my pen from the ground and ran toward the giant. As I took off the cap, I was planning my attack. Slicing the legs or the head would be the best idea. I charged, my adrenaline giving me extra strength.

But then I stopped. Something was wrong.

I looked at Riptide in my hand, but instead of a sword, it was a normal ballpoint pen.

I tried to stop, but I was too close. The giant knocked me aside again to the same spot, but he also threw Rachel right after.

"OOF!"

"Sorry." She said as she rolled off of me.

I sat back up and looked at the plethora of pens that laid before me: probably a few hundred pens that looked just like Riptide scattered all over the floor. I instantly regretted the disguise of my sword.

"Rachel," I said, "Uncap all the pens you find! One of them has got to be my sword!"

"Doesn't it always return to your pocket?" She asked.

"It takes time, but I don't think we have that much."

I looked up as the giant took his time to come over to us. He laughed as he knocked over a shelf of train models and set them on fire with nothing but his hands.

"Did Kronos send you?" I shouted at him.

"Indeed, Son of Poseidon." He said. "I was supposed to scope out Olympus, measure the perimeter, but I saw you two walk in here and thought 'Hey, those two killed part of my tribe this summer, and I'm a little hungry right now.'"

Not even a full month into the school year and two monsters want to eat me. Just the average life of a demigod, I suppose.

Rachel and I began uncapping pens more frantically. We'd gone through about a dozen of them when the Laestrygonian picked me up from behind.

"Now that I've thought about it," he said with his breath stinking up my vision. It smelled like a dump with some sun-dried fish to top it off. I couldn't feel Riptide in my pocket at all. "I think I'll eat you first. Your little lady can't wield a sword as good as you."

"I can still wield it though!" Shouted Rachel and, suddenly, she uncapped a pen, turning it into (and my opinion may be biased) the most beautiful bronze sword in the world. She stabbed the giant right in the navel, causing him to yell in pain and drop me.

I scrambled to my feet and Rachel tossed me my sword. I caught the hilt, swung it around, and brought it down on the Laestrygonian's neck, slicing his head off and turning him into dust.

I looked around at the shop, fires burning and hobby stuff destroyed. I looked at where the store owner was and saw that he had probably left sometime during the commotion.

"Let's get out of here." I told Rachel.

"Hold on." She picked up a few of the supplies that were scattered on the floor and we ran out the door together.

* * *

><p>"You know that's stealing, right?" I asked her on the way to the bus stop.<p>

"Really, Percy? The way I see it, I _rescued_ these supplies." She said with a smile on her face and maybe even a little dance in her step.

I decided to drop the subject. It was kind of hard to argue ethics with her. "You did great with the sword though." I said after a while.

"You're welcome."

"How'd you know that was the right pen?"

She kind of twisted her mouth, trying to remember. "I don't know. It had a sort of… glow and aura to it the other pens didn't have and I just took a shot in the dark."

"Dangerous thing to do when fighting monsters." I added.

"Would you have rathered I didn't save your sorry, salty butt?" She retorted.

"Hey, Annabeth calling me Seaweed Brain is one thing, but me having a salty butt? That makes no sense."

She punched me in the arm. "Whatever, Salt Butt."

* * *

><p>I got home that night and was greeted by my mother giving me one of the strongest hugs I've ever gotten.<p>

"Percy! Oh, I saw the news and I was worried!" She said as I was trying my best not to pass out.

She let me go and I gasped for some air. "What did they say on the news?" I asked.

"They said it was a gas leak. The store owner made it out alive."

The Mist had done its job. I looked at the news and there was no mention of the giant anywhere in there. Neither Rachel nor I were mentioned either, but I guess that was for the best.

I told my mom that I felt kind of beat up and went to go take a nap. I fell asleep instantly, but I didn't dream. Demigods never really dream, but instead get visions or see what's going on in another part of the world.

In this dream, I saw Luke.

No, that's not Luke anymore.

In this dream, I saw Kronos. He was sitting cross-legged in front of a campfire, surrounded by tents. I didn't need proof to know that those tents were filled with monsters and demigods who have betrayed us. His eyes were closed, as if he were meditating, and a Laestrygonian uglier than the one I'd fought earlier that day came up to him.

"Um, boss?"

"What is it?" Kronos hissed, his voice like knives being dragged over wet stone.

"Er, it's my brother, the one you sent to scout Olympus?"

"Yes?" Said Kronos, sounding annoyed.

The giant started to nervously twist his loincloth. "You see, funny story, um, he kind of… died?"

I expected Kronos to start some sort of temper tantrum and yell the giant to Tartarus, but instead he heaved a sigh. "A minor setback." He said. "Perhaps it is too early to attack." And then he looked directly at me with a cold smile. "Isn't that right, Percy Jackson?"

I woke with a start and cold sweat, then a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream.


End file.
